Topic: Military Diet Plan

[Nichi]

This plan is one of those chemical plans, so one must follow it to a tee. It looks like the old American Heart 3-day diet, which went out of favor for some reason I now don't remember.

The prediction is that one will lose 10 pounds in 3 days. If it is the old American Heart diet, I can tell you: it does work. It's just that one gets extremely hungry on this diet .. perhaps because the grapefruit is doing its job, I don't know. But the meal where you are counting out "5 saltine crackers" is a sad one indeed.

Offered for your perusal.

http://themilitarydiet.com/military-diet-plan/

[Ke-ke wan]

Its a weird diet.

I think, though that any diet that restricts calories drastically is going to have an effect.  It's interesting to me how much bread this diet recommends in a day.  From a non-bread eater, seems like a lot.

[Nick]

I've become a bit of a nutrition and fitness nerd over the years. All out of a desire to be healthy so I can live as long as possible, not out of a desire to loss weight. I doubt that will ever be an issue for me. But when looking up health stuff you inevitably come across weight loss stuff. I'm a curious person and how difficult it is for many people to loss weight is a somewhat compelling subjecting, on top of that my wife always wants to loss weight, so I've done some research. 

My thoughts on the military diet plan. First the name made me want to find some history for this diet. Why "military" diet, and if it is based off of this American heart diet, why go from heart diet to military diet? The two names don't seem to have anything in common. On top of that I would be more inclined to want to do a diet that implies it is good for my heart, than one that sounds like it was fed to soldiers. You'd think soldiers in America are fed properly, I mean they have to be healthy right? All the stories I heard from my father and his best friend seemed to say otherwise, that military food sucked, not only in taste but in nutritional quality. And here is an article from 2010, many years after my father's time showing that they just started improving nutritional quality.

http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/army-alters-meals-at-basic-training-to-improve-recruits-health/article_ef1fb0ac-01bf-11e0-86df-001cc4c03286.html

You'd think keep the bodies of the people who are supposedly fighting for our "freedom" healthy would be pretty basic. The lack of common sense is mind boggling. But then soldiers are just pawns....

Would I want a military diet...probably not, a heart diet, maybe. Lets look closer. According to this article:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/480028-the-three-day-aha-diet/

The diet was said to have been created by the American heart association, but they deny any connection to this diet, and state that it wouldn't be a very healthy diet. That page above has some good advice on this kind of thing.

Further, it is very similar to the 3-day chemical diet. Again, why chemical diet? To suggest your putting specific combinations of chemicals in your body so you have to get it just right? Well, really, your kind of doing that any time you eat. All of our food is composed of chemicals, and different combinations have different results. Calling it a chemical diet seems silly in this sense; not every body is the same, so always having the same chemicals for every body is going to produce different results for different bodies.

That said, my own thoughts. I'm surprised they have you limiting caffeine if they want to help you loss weight. My thought would be to increase caffeine, as it speeds up your metabolism. I mean to much is bad for you, but I would think they might recommend a bit more caffeine at least to get you started.

Next thought, the diet is prescribing a set amount of food for everyone regardless of their caloric needs. Calories are something we need to survive, so you need to find out your Body mass index, ideal weight range etc, and calculate how much calories you personally need. I get they want to make it cookie cutter so you have less to think about, which may equal less time getting discouraged over how to do it right, but really you got to do it right. You're body is a chemistry laboratory, you've got to put the right stuff in to get the right result, and not every body is going to get the same result from this diet.

It doesn't list substitutions, without a range of suitable choices many people are going to loose out on key nutrients. A lot of people will get bored with such a rigid diet. Perhaps a warrior wouldn't, but why be so 'militantly' rigid with your diet? Unless your specifically treating a certain health condition, in which case you kind of need a medical professionals advice on exactly what to eat. This diet has medical professionals giving it a clear no. 

It doesn't gradually wean you onto another more sustainable diet. Assuming you finish this diet to begin with, your going to need a more healthy diet for the long run, assuming you gained weight due to unhealthy diet, this diet teaches you little about eating a balanced diet.

Now hunger and weight loss are dependent upon how much you eat and how much energy you burn. But also the brain controls your appetite, and your general weight range/ set point. Its a range of about 10-20 pounds. This is the hypothalimus, it is a part of it called the arcuate nucleus. It acts as a kind of theremostate. When your thermestate recognizes that the temperature has dropped, it responds by raising the temperature. The hypothalimus does the same with your weight, it is a survival mechanism. A mechanism, it doesn't intelligently decide anything. If your body weight has been something for a sufficiently long period of time, it is programmed to keep you that way. If you loose to much it goes, shit our balance is off, maybe we are in danger. If food is spars making you not hungry even though you are ridiculously thin, will help you survive with some degree of comfort. Imagine being ridiculously hungry all the time, and not being able to satiate that hunger. Also when you do get food, you don't want to pig out on it, if your resources are highly limited. On the other hand if resources are abundant as they are in modern developed countries like the US, then your set range is higher. If you loose weight really fast your brain is conditioned to make your really hungry to get you back to what was the norm. On top of that when you do eat your brain is going to set just the right bodily conditions for you to store extra calories to make up for the sudden loss. So this military diet, if you do loose weight fast with it, and you don't have a good transitional plan, your brain is going to fight it. And once it is done, your body is going to pack on the calories.

On top of this, your set range seems to be fixed in place for at least about 7 years. Meaning, if you had weighed 200 pounds, and you get down to 130, your doing to have to stick to a good healthy diet and exercise plan that will keep you close to this weight for at least 7 years. At least this is what the research seems to show right now. So this implies to me that weight loss plans need to come with a good long term strategy drawn up. This also seems to say that those that loose weight easily, and keep it off without sticking to a good diet, probably forced their weight up but their set range was still low (remember it takes 7 years to change), so in turn they lost weight easily, because all this time their brain has been trying to make them loose weight anyway. A metaphor might be to say that you are heavy or skinny on the outside, but something different on the inside.

On top of this I distrust any weight loss diet that doesn't also come with exercise plans. Also in some cases tools to help the person change how they think, feel, and view their diet has been shown to be very helpful.

So in conclusion, I give it one quarter star, for trying to make weight loss easy, and most of the foods it suggests eating are healthy foods. Other than that, it actually seems like it might do more harm than good. Perhaps if the person on it has enough sense they might be able to make something good of it, but that seems a big if.

Here is a good food guide:

And another similar one:

[Nichi]

A couple of comments. The American Heart Association did actually create/sponsor this diet -- I remember doing it back in the day (late 70's/early 80's), with their logo on the brochure and everything. It was at least marketed under their name. But... later, they disavowed any connection to it, and proclaimed, ironically, that it could be associated with having a heart attack. I never understood exactly why they made that connection. I recall it being swept under the rug, because indeed, they wanted to disassociate themselves. I think around the same time, it became known that the ultimate consequence of anorexia was heart failure. And if you really follow this diet, you will lose a lot of weight.

I think it was around the time of Karen Carpenter's
Karen Carpenter's death that the AHA backtracked or disavowed any connection to the diet.

(Incidentally, they don't limit caffeine... it's the sweeteners they limit, though in one section they say "Stevia" is ok.)

About the military: yes, you would think the military would want to feed their people well, except I remember my former coworker's stories about how, when he was stationed somewhere, they were given a beer along with their ration and ordered to consume it! So he had beer daily, and actually had an addiction to kick when he left that place.

Perhaps the military nutritionists are recommending the diet if someone is gaining too much - I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't doing that, and the name of this diet is just another marketing strategy. I will attest to the aspect of feeling extremely disciplined -- indeed, punished -- on this diet. Maybe that's why someone dubbed it "military".  I remember feeling hungry, deprived, and worthless. I didn't stay on it long.

You're quite right that the formula for weight loss is simple: your physical activity must exceed your food intake. There come times, alas, when one is not up to the physical activity. That's when a diet like this could be most useful, on a temporary basis. Or, as a jumpstart to a longer-term diet change.

[Nichi]

When I was anorexic, I was completely consumed and obsessed with losing weight. I had "proof" that, indeed, increasing physical activity was the ticket, and there was no end to mine. I remember being at the university and taking the 10 flights of stairs in the Arts and Letters building every day. Twice if I could manage it.  In my own house, I was either going up and down stairs, or dancing, or doing yoga.

And once, when I feared I had too much mayonnaise in my tuna fish sandwich, I promptly went out and walked 10 miles, in scorching heat.  I was insane. And too thin for my height.

(Couldn't do that now.)

[Nick]

You're quite right that the formula for weight loss is simple: your physical activity must exceed your food intake. There come times, alas, when one is not up to the physical activity. That's when a diet like this could be most useful, on a temporary basis. Or, as a jumpstart to a longer-term diet change.

The formula for weight loss is simple, and I'll be a bit more specific about that formula than I was before. It is basically calories burnt through activity, must exceed caloric intake, and then once your target weight is met you must continue eating healthy indefinitely. Plus you must have the right balance of healthy gut bacteria/flora, but I'm not going to go into that angle right now. Just remember to eat foods and supplements that nourish your good gut flora! The last part of the formula is important your brain wants you to retain weight, and will do whatever it takes to stick to that programmed range. So you have to be in it for the long haul if you don't want to gain it all back.

More on this here:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/good-thinking/201306/is-it-ok-discriminate-against-obese-people

Its important to measure in calories, if we don't, we end up with people limiting the amount of food, when they could potentially eat the same amount in say...cups of food, but still get less calories from each food. On top of that you might even on some instances get to eat a little bit more food in general, with less calories over all, and in specific more good calories, and less bad. Resulting in less hunger, better brain-body chemistry, more motivation to push on with healthy eating.

Eating less food is misleading, and brings us back to the danger of thinking like an anorexic, or bulimic person. Who's mental model tells them that their body is like a bucket, eating is filling the bucket, exercise is emptying the bucket. So just fill the bucket less, by eating less, or vomiting after eating, then exercise to empty the bucket of what it did contain. Problem is your body is different from such a simple model in so many ways. One straight forward example is, if you eat to little food, then your could very well not be getting enough calories i.e. energy, to exercise. So the trick then becomes not eating empty calories, i.e. calories containing little to no nutrients. Like refined sugar, you've got calories, but very little that is going to sustain you for very long.

Agreed that there are times when for various reasons it can be difficult to engage in physical activity. At which point I could see a diet like this as potentially a way to go, and still for some people it might be so few calories that it leaves them having to operate on nearly pure will-power to push themselves to exercise, or even get through their day. Which sounds like what happened to you on this diet when you felt worthless. Such a result from this diet on the wrong mind could even lead to suicide. I mean one of the primary, most fundamental ways we show ourselves we have worth, is by doing the most fundamental things we need to do to care for ourselves enough to survive. This is why when I've pondered the issue of life styles that are unhealthy to the physique, I often come back to the idea that the most essential thing is that people need to simply love and accept themselves as they are. That this love needs to be gradually made more unconditional over time. Integral to that cultivation of an unconditional love is to cultivate an inner clarity and honesty over the why's and wherefores of their desire to change.   

One of the parts of this military diet I like the most is how straight forward it is. That said I know there are other diets that are also fairly easy to fallow, that are more specifically tailored to each individual, so that each person is more likely to get the nutrition their body needs. The best I've seen lately, and normally I'm not one to promote trends, or programs with flashy promotional material, but I do think this diet is smartly done; the 21 day fix, by trainer Autumn Calabrese:

https://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/21-day-fix-simple-fitness-eating.do

Or if the cost of 21 day fix is prohibitive. There is the Get Fit generic version, which doesn't have all the workout ideas, and other shiny stuff, but still has all the same general eating recommendations. So you do the Get Fit version, and make sure you do 30 minutes of exercise every day. Or get Tupperware containers of the same size, and label them. Then find out exactly what 21 day fix has you put in each container (not hard to figure out with a bit of research), and exercise 30 minutes every day. Making it even cheaper. 

Its simple, it starts by giving you a straight forward, and easy system for calculating how much calories your body needs. Then it gives you cups of different sizes and colors. A guide that gives a selection of choices that are allowed to go in each cup. The selection is varied enough to provide you with good nutrition, while remaining straight forward, and simple. It is also a diet that you could, relatively speaking, more or less fallow the rest of your life. If nothing else it will teach you good eating habits, and it doesn't have you loosing weight too rapidly causing rapid weight gain upon coming off of it. The foods they recommend eating, the caloric guidelines, etc all fit with the food pyramids I mentioned, and all the most accurate up to date information we have on how the body works.

By the way that up to date information on what the body needs most, also coincides with most of what holistic medicine has traditionally taught for ages.
 
Last recommendations are for the upper story of our being. Not necessary for everyone, but it makes good sense to have some kind of support group. Finally, a method for helping the person develop a healthier relationship with themselves. Many of the tools we use in here for spiritual-psychological healing are the best, esp. for people like us. Another tool is cognitive behavioral reprogramming, like this book:


https://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Behavioral-Workbook-Weight-Management/dp/1572246251

Glad your not anorexic any more, its a horrible place to be. Your exercising like crazy makes me think of how someone can over do just about anything. How balance is key. Where you anorexic in an attempt to make yourself attractive? 

[Nichi]

Glad your not anorexic any more, its a horrible place to be. Your exercising like crazy makes me think of how someone can over do just about anything. How balance is key. Where you anorexic in an attempt to make yourself attractive?

Yes, I thought being thin would solve everything.

[Nichi]

Nick, you would have enjoyed the work of an old friend of mine, who wrote a great deal about "body image" before it was a more known concept.
Thomas Cash.

http://www.body-images.com/bio/

I say it in past tense only because his work in the subject has probably become 'ordinary' to those exploring it now. At one time, he was breaking ground. His work is mostly scholarly... you'd have to dig to read his research. (Which usually entails registering as a academic on the scholarly and clinical sites - and often, a fee.) He wrote a few books for the public as well.  Still, I'll bet if you're interested you could find some of his serious stuff online.

He is/was a cognitive/behavioral therapist. His bio says he is retired now. I wonder about that, because he was a workaholic throughout the course of my knowing him.

[Nick]

Yes, I thought being thin would solve everything.

It seems a lot of people have some version of this notion. Its sad to, that many people are propagating this idea. That somehow thinness is the thing to strive for. Really the data on exactly what size a person should be for health reasons seems to point that the BMI is far from an exact measure. The language may need to change from words like weight, obesity, thinness, and sexy bodies to just purely talking about being healthy. It is a very complex issue though, and a lot of people say there is an "epidemic" of obesity, yet others argue we are actually healthier than we've ever been. Really I think it shouldn't be so much about loosing weight, which is more a potential symptom of health problems, and more about just living a healthy life style.

It seems to me that this very much becomes a stigmatizing issue. Which is unfortunate for so many reasons.

I'll check out your reference. I'm always looking back to older views on psychology anyway. The newer stuff is very limited, and superficial. Some of it does have value, but there are a lot of good ideas that were totally thrown out, just like the baby with the bathwater.

[Ke-ke wan]

Yes, I thought being thin would solve everything.

I thought that for along time as well.  "OO, if I lose weight, then this and that and this will happen or get better, or so and so will like me more..."